Kristi Jones

Writing Outside My Comfort Zone

Those of you who have read The Corpse Goddess know it’s not sexy. It’s cool and creepy and totally unique…or so I’ve been told in reviews! And while the happenings of Skuld’s Stone, the sequel to The Corpse Goddess, are rolling around inside my head, I’m not quite ready to put it all down on paper. Because I’m drawn to this other story. The story that is way outside my comfort zone.

The title of this novella is Valkyries Kiss and I’m totally loving it. I’m also a little nervous to submit it because it’s a little dirty. Not FSOG dirty, but these characters are getting it on and there’s no horror to it at all. In fact, I think I have a bit of a crush on the hero.

I started writing this story months ago, before my debut novel came out. I wrote 7000 words and thought, this isn’t what I write. What am I doing? So I shelved it.

But writers know, when the story is calling to you like that over weeks, months, sometimes even years, you have to write it down.

It got me thinking about comfort zones and creativity. When I wrote The Corpse Goddess, I was definitely writing outside my comfort zone, outside of my preferred reading genres. One look at my goodreads page will tell you that I read a lot of history, a lot of Neil Gaiman and Stephen King, a lot of literary fiction. Urban fantasy and paranormal? Not so much. But writing that book was the most fun I’ve ever had writing. When I try to write the types of books I love to read, I flounder. I fail to find a groove.

Right now, this sexy little story called Valkyries Kiss has burrowed its way into my heart. I’ve got a groove going and I don’t want to stop. Will the neighbors look at me in a whole new way after reading it? Maybe. But then, they probably already are, right? And writing, whether you’re in your comfort zone or not, always involves risk. If it didn’t, I suppose it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun! And hey, if it takes steamy sex scenes to get me out of a writing rut, well, we all have to make sacrifices for our work, right?